Premier League: Dyche can dent Arsenal title challenge

Alex Keble
02 February 2023
4:00 min read

Dyche's stubborn defensive 4-4-2 is a big challenge for Arsenal

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Alex Keble picks out four tactical battles from the upcoming Premier League matches and predicts that both Arsenal and Manchester City could drop points...

Chelsea's new signings to beat Fulham
Stubborn Dyche might hold Arsenal
Spurs should take points from Man City

New signings can reveal Fulham's right wing flaws

Chelsea v Fulham
Friday, 20:00
Live on Sky Sports Premier League

Chelsea's rampant spending spree should ring alarm bells for supporters, who are now locked in with these players for a very long time, but fortunately it looks as though Todd Boehly has bought well. Enzo Fernandez, Benoit Badiashile, and Mykhailo Mudryk should combine to give Graham Potter greater verticality to his possession football, instantly improving on the sideways movement we have been seeing.

Badiashile is one of the best progressive passers in Europe, Fernandez is a metronome with considerably more courage on the ball compared to Jorginho, and Mudryk showed in his cameo against Liverpool that he will provide urgency and speed in the final third. Together, this can overcome the issues we saw in the 2-1 defeat to Fulham, when Chelsea moved the ball too slowly to upset Marco Silva's ruthlessly organised midfield.

Fulham are weakest on their right flank, where Joelinton and Ivan Perisic dominated in Fulham's two defeats since the Chelsea game, and Mudryk is in line for a start this week. With Marc Cucurella overlapping, and with Chelsea finally looking to attack with urgency, this should feel nothing like the reverse fixture.

Back Chelsea to win at 8/13

Dyche's 4-4-2 can stunt Jorginho-led Arsenal

Everton v Arsenal
Saturday, 12:30
Live on BT Sport 1

It won't take long for Sean Dyche to whip this team into shape, and with James Tarkowski and Conor Coady across his back four Everton can absorb pressure in a compact 4-4-2 that forces Arsenal into awkward positions. The priority will clearly be defensive organisation, with long balls up to Demarai Gray and Dominic Calvert-Lewin relieving pressure as the visitors are tasked with breaking down a hard-working and stubborn unit with experience of doing just that under Frank Lampard.

Things might not have gone well this season but Lampard achieved 1-0 home wins against Chelsea and Manchester United towards the end of last year by sitting in a defensive shell, so Dyche's approach - which will be achieved with a higher line and more aggressive approach than he is often credited with - could cause a huge shock. That is made even more likely by the absence of Arsenal's most important player Thomas Partey.

Jorginho Chelsea.jpg

His replacement, new signing Jorginho, often favours a sideways or backwards pass to recycle possession, which is precisely what Arsenal do not need in a game like this. He threatens to turn Arsenal into a sluggish team at exactly the wrong moment, allowing Everton to retain Dyche's banks of four at all times.

Back double chance Everton/draw at 15/8

Emery to draw Leicester into trap

Aston Villa v Leicester City
Saturday, 15:00

Leicester have quietly gone back into crisis mode despite their progression in the FA Cup, which has distracted away from a run of just one point won from their last five league matches. In a number of different formations, Brendan Rodgers has again lost his ability to find any cohesion in the team - and things are at their worst when Leicester are denied their sharp vertical transitions by a deep-lying opponent.

Rodgers' side have held more than 50% possession in ten Premier League matches this season, winning none of them. That's a damning statistic that gives Aston Villa the advantage on Saturday, when Unai Emery will concede territory and possession to invite Leicester forward. Already Villa look like a classic Emery team; they will look to draw the Leicester press with slow and patient possession at the back before quickly moving into counter-attacking mode and breaking in behind.

Daniel Amartey and Danny Ward remain serious weak points for Leicester, the former exposed badly when Rodgers' high line is tested by speedy attackers, which means the split strikers Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins should be able to progress Villa up the pitch on the outside of the centre-backs. Villa are simply the more coherent and tactically astute side, able to pull Leicester into any position they want.

Back Villa to win at 1/1

Conte counters should cause big problems

Tottenham v Man City
Sunday, 16:30
Live on Sky Sports Premier League

Man City's comeback 4-2 in at the Etihad in January was defined by Riyad Mahrez's individual brilliance, but also Pep Guardiola's decision to switch things up at half-time by instructing his full-backs Nathan Ake and Rico Lewis to hold the width and overlap more often, in turn freeing space for Mahrez to get at Ivan Perisic.

Antonio Conte won't change much, and he doesn't have to, because with a bit more luck Spurs would still have won that game. Their three-pronged counter-attacks through Harry Kane, Heung-Min Son, and Dejan Kulusevski were once again very effective against Man City's high line, and should have led to victory as Man City enjoyed more luck in front of goal.

With home advantage, we can expect Spurs to hold out much better if they again take the lead, while in Arnaut Danjuma and Pedro Porro Conte now has much more aggressive options off the bench. Guardiola has never worked out how to track Spurs' front three. It is unlikely he has found a formula over the last three weeks.